Prime Minister Theresa May has today given her backing to a multi-million pound road scheme to solve the Air Balloon roundabout problem in Gloucestershire.

Speaking in the House of Commons during Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May gave the Government’s support to a massive engineering project to relieve congestion and reduce accidents on the ‘missing link’ part of the A417 heading into Cheltenham and Gloucester.

This missing link is a 5km stretch of single carriageway on the A417/A419 trunk road, with the remaining route between the M4 at Swindon and M5 at Gloucester being dual carriageway.

Mrs May, in response to a question from Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk, told MPs: “I know my honourable friend has been working tirelessly on this particular issue and I understand the concerns and frustrations that drivers in his constituency and elsewhere have about this vital strategic road, for not just Gloucestershire but for the wider region as well.

Read More

“A consultation will begin shortly so we can develop the right solution to tackle this pinch point”.

Back in 2014, the Government said it would develop a scheme to connect the two dual carriageway sections of the A417.

At the moment, motorists heading into Gloucestershire from Cirencester and Swindon funnel from a dual carriageway into a single-carriageway at the Cowley roundabout, through Nettleton Bottom, Birdlip, and then to the notorious Air Balloon roundabout.

Read More

Traffic bound for Gloucester and Cheltenham and the M5 then has to go down the steep Crickley Hill before the route turns into a dual-carriageway along the Brockworth bypass and into Gloucester.

The A417 through Gloucestershire, with the Air Balloon roundabout at the top of the picture

Motorists heading in the other direction, stay on a dual carriageway from the Brockworth Bypass up Crickley Hill to the Air Balloon, then a short burst of dual carriageway takes them up to Birdlip and then it is a single-carriageway to the Cowley roundabout.

Nettleton Bottom, A417

As well as a number of serious and fatal accidents, the 'missing link' stretch is a regular scene of congestion and, on Crickley Hill, lorry breakdowns.

A public consultation will be held early next year for their opinions on proposed solutions to the ‘missing link’.

A stretch of the A417 in Gloucestershire

The route is a key link between the West Midlands and London and is used by more than 34,000 vehicles a day. It also has one of the worst average vehicle delays of all routes in the region.

The 'missing link' part of the A417 in Gloucestershire

View fullscreen

Finding a solution is a priority for the county council, with nearly 7,000 people and businesses pledging their support for the scheme, which is being delivered by Highways England.

The Department for Transport has pledged £250million towards the scheme and the campaigners in Gloucestershire want the scheme to start by 2020.

They were told that the Minister will publish a number of alternative routes for a six-week consultation period in February 2018.

The Government's prefered route will then be announced later in 2018.

A statement issued from the office of Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: "The MPs are determined that this road scheme should be built. They are particularly conscious that this will be an expensive road scheme which needs to be constructed in an economical way otherwise it will never happen."